Bulldogs Sweep!!

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The largest crowd ever to watch a University of Minnesota Duluth home game got their money’s worth Saturday at AMSOIL Arena.

The Bulldogs used a couple of first-period goals and another superb night of puckstopping from its rookie goaltender and held on to defeat the University of Minnesota 2-1 before a jacked-up overflow crowd of 7,424. The non-conference victory was the fifth straight for UMD and capped off the Bulldogs’ first series sweep of their long-time instrastate rivals since Feb. 13-14, 2004 in Duluth.

Kasimir Kaskisuo, who blanked Minnesota 3-0 Friday evening in Minneapolis, finished with 24 saves while   improving to 7-3-0 on the year. He had gone 149:37 without allowing a goal (going back to last Saturday night) before Gopher Leon Bristedt struck with just under 10 minutes to go in the third period.

Kaskisuo’s teammates picked up right where they left off in the series opener, getting a goal 28 seconds in from Dominic Toninato. The sophomore center jammed in a loose puck inside the Minnesota crease for his nation-leading ninth goal of the year. With 2:55 to go before intermission, Karson Kuhlman picked up the eventual game-winner on the power play when he tipped in sophomore defenseman Willie Raskob‘s shot from the point. That gave the freshman right winger from Esko, Minn., four goals on the season.

The Bulldogs, who have yet to lose on a Saturday/Sunday this season (6-0-0), are now 8-4-0 overall while Minnesota, which was outshot 34-25, is 7-3-0.

“These are two big wins for us,” said UMD head coach Scott Sandelin. “We won both of the games this weekend in different ways and that can build confidence. We’ll enjoy this for a bit, but then it’s time to get ready for Omaha next weekend.